The Laws of Style

Douglas Hand is one of the pre-eminent fashion lawyers in the United States and a generally sharp dressed man.  He is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Awards Guild which votes on the designers to receive CFDA Awards. Douglas is also on the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Couture Council.  He is an adjunct professor of Fashion Law at both NYU and Cardozo School of Law.  Douglas has been featured and profiled in numerous media outlets including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, the American Bar Association Journal, Women’s Wear Daily and The Business of Fashion.  Before becoming a founding partner of HBA LLP, he was an M&A lawyer at Shearman & Sterling LLP.  He received his JD and MBA from NYU.  His ongoing musings on style can be followed at @handlawsofstyle.

Table of Contents




Chapter One: The Importance of Professional Presentation
Chapter Two: Relativity Theory
Chapter Three: Dressing Relative to Your Employer
Chapter Four: Insouciance and Breaking the Laws
Chapter Five: From the Ground Up – Shoes
Chapter Six: Socks – Sock it to Me
Chapter Seven: The Suit – Our Uniform
Chapter Eight: Shirting
Chapter Nine: Ties and Pocket Squares
Chapter Ten: Business Casual
Chapter Eleven: Patterns and Textures – Mixing and Matching
Chapter Twelve: Functional Accessories
Chapter Thirteen: Accessorizing Timepieces/”Jewelry”
Chapter Fourteen: Personal Grooming
Chapter Fifteen: Feeling Good Means Looking Good and Breaking the Laws
Appendix A: The Laws
Appendix B: Brands to Know